1. Field of the Invention
Implementations relate generally to data security, and more particularly, to efficiently providing data security in an easily implemented manner.
2. Description of Related Art
The ability to exchange data securely is of paramount importance in today's information age. The term “security” or “securely” may have several different meanings, depending on the level of protection considered necessary and practical. In one aspect, data may be computationally protected, such that only the most aware and technically competent interceptor may uncover or view the secured data. Systems such as public key encryption or shared secret key encryption may be deemed computationally secure in that, absent knowledge of a secret key, decryption of the data by an interceptor would be technically difficult. Alternatively, less secure systems may be implemented which prevent the casual or unintended dissemination of protected data, yet do not fully protect the data to the level afforded by the more computationally intensive systems.
Unfortunately, implementing a more desirable computationally intensive security scheme may cause operational problems for the parties desiring to share the data. For example, a public key system requires that the encrypting party have knowledge of each recipient's public key. This may prove problematic in the efficient generation and dissemination of the desired data. Similarly cumbersome, a shared secret key system would require that the encrypting party exchange a private key with the receiving party and would further require that the decrypting party receive the private key and utilize the key to decrypt the received data. Unfortunately, this system requires additional obligations on the part of the receiving party that may be difficult to implement or enforce in practice.